Colorado Springs’ and the Pikes Peak region’s overall success depend on effective collaboration across local tourism sectors, not only benefiting the millions of people who visit the region every year but also the residents who call Olympic City USA and its surrounding communities home.

A panel of local experts in destination, sports and outdoor tourism reiterated the value of regional tourism and recreation on Thursday afternoon at Visit Colorado Springs’ Annual Business Meeting luncheon held at Cheyenne Mountain Resort.

The panel included VisitCOS President and Chief Executive Officer Doug Price, Colorado Springs Sports Corp. President and CEO Megan Leatham and Pikes Peak Outdoor Recreation Alliance Executive Director Becky Leinweber. Michelle Talarico, a Colorado Springs businesswoman, VisitCOS board chair and a former city councilmember, moderated the panel.

Despite Americans’ concerns about inflation and the economy, the Pikes Peak region still welcomed a record 25.5 million visitors who spent $3.1 billion in 2024, Price told roughly 200 local businesses, tourism groups and elected officials in a speech ahead of the afternoon’s panel discussion.

Now, various tourism sectors must continue collaborating to attract more visitors and keep them in town longer — which in turn will boost city sales tax revenues, help fund local events and promote even more tourism, panelists said.

“Partnership amongst us is what’s going to help elevate our tourism and help elevate our city and our communities. That’s really the key,” Leinweber said, adding that while organizations already partner together, they must double down on their efforts.

“There’s been more and more conversation about being more strategic with our tourism. How do we work together arm in arm? How do sports and outdoors and cultural arts all join forces, creating events and experiences and opportunities and building infrastructure that helps everybody? I think that collaboration is what our residents expect and I think that’s what really benefits them, too. … They see us all pulling in the same direction for the community’s good.”

Price said increasing the city’s tax on hotel rooms and rental cars, or the Lodgers and Automobile Rental Tax (LART), is key for the region’s “destination success.”

Funding generated through LART is used to drive more revenue-generating tourism by producing events and supporting groups that promote tourism to the city. VisitCOS receives the largest share of LART revenues.

Colorado Springs charges a 2% lodger’s tax and a 1% auto rental tax, rates that have not changed since LART was enacted in 1980.

VisitCOS, the premier marketing organization for Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak region, is pushing for a ballot question this year that would increase the LART tax rate.

His organization’s annual budget is $6 million, compared to Visit Denver, which has a budget of $40 million, Price said.

“Six times our size. So yeah, we’re different, but in order for us to run the sorts of campaigns that we need to be competitive, to not only maintain what we’ve got, but to be able to keep our flights full at the airport and everything else, we do need to increase the funding,” he said.

His organization also supports the Michelin Guide’s expansion of its awards to the entire state of Colorado, announced last month. Research shows 60% of visitors to Colorado say fine dining is their No. 1 bid. “Michelin travelers,” as Price called them, “will tend to stay longer and have a larger economic impact on our city.”

Leatham said robust sports infrastructure will drive more visitors to the area. The city has several world-class venues spread throughout, but Leatham previously said organizers look for and want a centralized location for their sporting events.

To remedy this, Colorado Springs Sports Corp. is supporting the development of the $220 million Rocky Mountain Sports Ranch, a 123-acre indoor-outdoor sports complex in the Banning Lewis Ranch area that “will be a major catalyst for hosting more events of all kinds,” she said.

The complex is estimated to attract 1.2 million additional visitors every year once it’s completed, host 78,000 room occupancies per night and will have a $42 million economic impact on the region, she said.

“This investment is really important because it can help bring in visitors on the shoulder season,” she said.

In 2024 the region welcomed most of its annual visitors, 30%, in the summer, and the fewest visitors, 20%, in the winter, according to data presented by VisitCOS.

Leinweber said the outdoors sector supports more investment in local infrastructure. Outdoors recreation groups must strike a delicate balance with destination stewardship, however, she added.

“If we’re not taking care of the places that we have today, those beautiful spots … some folks feel like they’ve been ripped off. … So investment really needs to be in not just promoting and growing new things but also in taking care of the things we have today,” Leinweber said.

All of this comes together to create robust itineraries for visitors, panelists said.

“Not only are we not a drive-through destination, we’re not even a bike-through or a hike-through destination. You’ve got to come here to experience it all,” Price said.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to clarify the Sports Corp.’s supporting role in the development of the Rocky Mountain Sports Ranch and the number of visitors it expects to attract annually.